Trial reportJournal of cardiothoracic surgery2008
Does physiotherapy reduce the incidence of postoperative complications in patients following pulmonary resection via thoracotomy? a protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Journal of cardiothoracic surgery, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Post-Operative Outcomes of Pre-Thoracic Surgery Respiratory Muscle Training vs Aerobic Exercise Training: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of respiratory muscle-stretching exercise on chest expansion and shoulder mobility post-thoracotomy: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2025Trial
- Impact of staged goal-directed fluid therapy on postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing McKeown esophagectomy: a randomized controlled trial.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Effects of non-intubated anesthesia on postoperative pulmonary complications after thoracoscopic segmentectomy: a propensity score-matched analysis.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Article
- What are the impact and the optimal design of a physical prehabilitation program in patients with esophagogastric cancer awaiting surgery? A systematic review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Prolonged air leak after pulmonary lobectomy.Journal of thoracic disease · 2019Article
- Retrospective Comparative Study on Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Orthotopic Liver Transplantation Using the Melbourne Group Scale (MGS-2) Diagnostic Criteria.Annals of transplantation · 2018Article
- Observational
- The effect of non-invasive positive airway pressure therapy following thoracic surgical procedures: protocol for a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2015Article
- [Influencing factor of postoperation fast-track recovery and in hospital cost after lobctomy for lung cancer].Zhongguo fei ai za zhi = Chinese journal of lung cancer · 2014Article
- Risk factors for postoperative respiratory complications following esophageal cancer resection.Oncology letters · 2012Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostoperative pulmonary and shoulder complications are important causes of postoperative morbidity following thoracotomy. While physiotherapy aims to prevent or minimise these complications, currently there are no randomised controlled trials to support or refute effectiveness of physiotherapy in this setting. METHODS/
designThis single blind randomised controlled trial aims to recruit 184 patients following lung resection via open thoracotomy. All subjects will receive a preoperative physiotherapy information booklet and following surgery will be randomly allocated to a Treatment Group receiving postoperative physiotherapy or a Control Group receiving standard care nursing and medical interventions but no physiotherapy. The Treatment Group will receive a standardised daily physiotherapy programme to prevent respiratory and musculoskeletal complications. On discharge Treatment Group subjects will receive an exercise programme and exercise diary to complete. The primary outcome measure is the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications, which will be determined on a daily basis whilst the patient is in hospital by a blinded assessor. Secondary outcome measures are the length of postoperative hospital stay, severity of pain, shoulder function as measured by the self-reported shoulder pain and disability index, and quality of life measured by the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36 v2 New Zealand standard version. Pain, shoulder function and quality of life will be measured at baseline, on discharge from hospital, one month and three months postoperatively. Additionally a subgroup of subjects will have measurement of shoulder range of movement and muscle strength by a blinded assessor. DISCUSSION: Results from this study will contribute to the increasing volume of evidence regarding the effectiveness of physiotherapy following major surgery and will guide physiotherapists in their interventions for patients following thoracotomy.
trial registrationThe study protocol is registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials registry (ANZCTRN12605000201673).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.